01 9 月 The Flood Control Dike of Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
In the drainage system of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, in addition to the underground drainage facilities, there is also an earthen flood control dike in a southwesterly direction 1 km from the tomb in the southeast of Qin Shihuang’s mausoleum and about 1,000 meters remain, which is the famous Qin Shihuang’s mausoleum flood control dike – Wuling site.
According to the geographical location, the south side of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is Lishan. The southern side of the mausoleum faces a row of north-south oriented gorges at the northern foot of Lishan, where there are more than a dozen large and small gorges. Pangjiagou is facing the Terracotta Warriors, Wajiaogou is facing the small stable pits and the accompanying burial tomb area, and Dashuigou is facing the tomb of the First Emperor. The entrance to the valley of the Dashuigou is tens of meters wide, and when a flash flood occurs, the flood water rolls with boulders, gravel and sediment to the north, which easily washes away the mausoleum and its ancillary facilities.
In order to prevent the water from pouring north along the valley mouth during the flood season and threatening the safety of the mausoleum area, the designers of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor took the measure of setting up a defense to divert and drain the flood water by building a flood control dike running southwest-northeast between the tomb and Lishan, which is the northern foot of Lishan. This would stop the water from the Dashuigou and several other valleys, so that the water would flow around the mausoleum to the east and then to the north, and finally into the Wei River.
The historical book Guanzhong Ji says: “The springs of Lishan flowed north, but they were all barricaded to make them flow east and west.” Here, the Barrier is a flood control dike. This flood control dike extends from the west foot of the mountain, according to the detection of the total length of 3,500 meters, now the remnants of 1,000 meters, about 40 meters wide, 2 meters to 8 meters high, the body of the embankment rammed with earth, soil contains a lot of sand and gravel.
Withstanding more than 2,000 years of rain and wind, the rammed earth is still layered and hard and dense. Relying on the long dike, the Qin people intercepted and diverted the flowing water from the big ditch and several valleys to the north to the east, so that it turned east and flowed north, passing around the mausoleum and injecting into the Wei River.
The reason why the flood control dike is called “Wuling” is that it has the meaning of Qin Shihuang sending troops to attack Xiongnv and make them retreat in the north and send senior general to take major military action in the south. It is also explained that the flood control dike extends from the southwest to the northeast, and roughly bypasses the five small mountains of Lishan, so it is called “Wuling”.